G. A. Wells

For the Canadian Anglican bishop, see George A. Wells (bishop). For the American politician, see George A. Wells (politician). For the Vanuatuan politician, see George A. Wells (Vanuatuan politician).

G. A. Wells
Born
George Albert Wells

(1926-05-22)22 May 1926
London, England
Died23 January 2017(2017-01-23) (aged 90)
Occupation(s)Professor of German, London University
Known forAtheism and rationalism
Academic background
EducationUniversity of London, Bern University
InfluencesBruno Bauer, Paul-Louis Couchoud, Arthur Drews, Ludwig Feuerbach, Albert Kalthoff, Albert Schweitzer, William Benjamin Smith, David Strauss, William Wrede
Academic work
Sub-disciplineHistorical criticism
Main interestsNon-historicity of Jesus, origins of Christianity
Notable worksThe Jesus of the Early Christians,
Did Jesus Exist?,
The Historical Evidence for Jesus,
Who Was Jesus?,
Belief & Make-Believe,
The Jesus Legend,
The Jesus Myth,
Can We Trust the New Testament?,
Cutting Jesus Down to Size
Notable ideasJesus is a composite from two sources: Hebrew wisdom and Galilean miracle-worker/cynic-sage preacher
InfluencedEarl Doherty, Alvar Ellegård, R. Joseph Hoffmann, Michael Martin

George Albert Wells (22 May 1926 – 23 January 2017)[1][2] was an English scholar who served as Professor of German at Birkbeck, University of London. After writing books about famous European intellectuals, such as Johann Gottfried Herder and Franz Grillparzer, he turned to the study of the historicity of Jesus, starting with his book The Jesus of the Early Christians in 1971.[3] He is best known as an advocate of the thesis that Jesus is essentially a mythical rather than a historical figure, a theory that was pioneered by German biblical scholars such as Bruno Bauer and Arthur Drews.

From the late 1990s, Wells said that the hypothetical Q document, which is proposed as a source used in some of the gospels, may "contain a core of reminiscences" of an itinerant Galilean miracle-worker/Cynic-sage type preacher.[4] This new stance has been interpreted as Wells changing his position to accept the existence of a historical Jesus.[5] In 2003, Wells stated that he disagreed with Robert M. Price on the information about Jesus being "all mythical".[6] Wells believed that the Jesus of the gospels is obtained by attributing the supernatural traits of the Pauline epistles to the human preacher of Q.[7] In 2012, Wells reaffirmed that he agreed that Jesus existed and acknowledged he had changed his stance.[8]

Wells was Chairman of the Rationalist Press Association. He was married and lived in St. Albans, near London. He studied at the University of London and Bern, and held degrees in German, philosophy, and natural science. Wells taught German at London University from 1949, and was Professor of German at Birkbeck College from 1968.

  1. ^ George Albert Wells, Emeritus Professor 22 May 1926-23 January 2017
  2. ^ "George Wells obituary". The Guardian. 6 March 2017. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  3. ^ "An Interview with Prof. Wells - Jesus: There Was No Such Person", Freethought Today, April–May 1985
  4. ^ Wells, G. A. (September 1999). "Earliest Christianity". The New Humanist. 114 (3): 13–18.
  5. ^ Van Voorst, Robert E (2003). "Nonexistence Hypothesis". In Houlden, James Leslie (ed.). Jesus in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 660. ISBN 1-57607-856-6.
  6. ^ Can We Trust the New Testament? by George Albert Wells (2003) ISBN 0812695674 pp. 49–50
  7. ^ Can We Trust the New Testament? by George Albert Wells (2003) ISBN 0812695674 p. 43
  8. ^ G.A. Wells, "Ehrman on the Historicity of Jesus and Early Christian Thinking", Free Inquiry, Volume 32, Number 4, June–July 2012, p. 58-62.excerpts